Looking for new headphones ($40-200)

[Jaigoda]

Hey ABI, it's been a while! Well, I'm actually back in the market for a new pair of headphones. I had a pair of Panasonic HJE900's for about 3 months last year, but I found that the wire casing had gotten pulled back at the housing, so I had them returned and then the place I got them ran out of stock (which they failed to tell me when I returned it) and coincidentally I'm now down $140 dollars.

Since then I've been running on some Skullcandy Ink'd, which honestly aren't bad for the price (~$10), but I've really been craving an actual quality set of headphones. Money at this point isn't much of an issue, but I'd say my max is definitely about $200. I'm looking for something that's a good value, ideally somewhere around $100 if possible. I'm also not opposed to getting IEM's or over-the-ear cans, as long as they're comfortable. I can't stand on-the-ear headphones, as after about 15-30 minutes they start getting really painful.

The main stuff I listen to is various types of rock and alternative. The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Franz Ferdinand, The Arctic Monkeys, The Strokes, Nirvana, The Black Keys, Beck, Green Day, the Killers, Kasabian, Queen, T. Rex, Radiohead, etc. So basically, I don't really need anything with booming base, and my main priorities are good build quality and good clarity.

[CrowdAds]

[Syndrome]

If you don't want alot of bass then you should look at the KRK KNS8400. They are some of the most comfortable over the ear closed headphones I've ever tried. They've got great clarity, but lack a little in the bass department.

If you want more bass then you can go with the ATH-M50. They're comfortable, but not as light weight as the KRK. They have good bass and seem to take pretty well to being EQ adjusted.

You can order both sets of these headphones from www.zzounds.com and try them out for 30 days. If you don't like one or both sets then simply send them back(at your expense, but that should only be 15$).

[kredig]

also you could take a look at shure 440 with 840 pads. this will be around $100 and probably the best price/value in this price range.

[IDvsEGO]

for an IEM suggestion I would say that I am really enjoying my Sony xba1 for that type of music. The meleec a161 is getting a lot of buzz right now too. both are balanced armature sets so the bass is different. I am what most would consider a basshead and I still enjoy the quality of bass from these on everything but my hip hop. I do EQ them up a little but nothing drastic. and with that broad of a price range you will get a million and 8 different suggestions and most of them will be valid. These are much cheaper but I really enjoyed my sennheiser hd428 as well. They are marketed as "extra bass" but I almost returned them at first. then I got a j3 with all those sound enhancements and I loved them.